This is the last movement from my piano work Tijani, and the closing part in a cycle of three, three-movement works for piano I’ve composed for my children (which include Remi and Kenza). All nine movements are written in diatonic C major/A minor. Like the opening movement of the cycle, “Oh Seven,” this is a fast piece. The title is based on a combination of my wife’s nickname for our son and the cultural realm of Afrofuturism.
There are three main melodic ideas; the first, a pattern of ascending fourths in the right hand which goes through changes in pitch and harmony; the second, a bassline of staggered octaves which becomes a root-fifth-octave pattern in the second section. The first section of the piece is based on a rhythmic pattern of nine beats; the second, fours alternating with threes. The third idea arrives in this section: progressions of four-note chords, moving in half notes (minims) alternating with dotted quarters (crotchets) and later, dotted half notes (minims).
As with the rest of the cycle, the form and structure here are simple, almost pop-song like. There is a limited amount of complexity and abstraction present in the harmonies and rhythms. Once again I take inspiration from Bach’s Prelude in C major, in the idea of repeating a musical pattern over and over but substituting new harmonies each time.
Composed November 2014
Recorded June 2015, Roland digital piano direct to file
Photo by Remi
Music and composer’s notes copyright Bruce A. Russell 2015
EL MAHBOOB 